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Cheetah and Dog Are Best Friends: Raw Video

Ruuxa the cheetah and Raina the dog are now nearly four months old. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, who released this video, has paired the two as part of its animal ambassador program. (Published Friday, Sept. 5, 2014)

On Wednesday, a concerned puppy in San Diego nuzzled and licked her best friend, a cheetah cub, to make sure he would wake up from his leg surgery this week.

With his spotted forelegs wrapped in blue bandages, the little cub Ruuxa is recovering from an growth abnormality operation.

His legs were starting to bow because the growth plate in his ulna stopped growing before the radius, so veterinarians wanted to correct the problem before it caused pain.

The young cheetah was sedated for the surgery at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s Harter Veterinary Medical Center.

Cheetah and Puppy Paired as Lifelong Companions

Raina, the brown Rhodesian ridgeback puppy who has been Ruuxa’s constant companion, accompanied her friend. She sat nearby through the whole procedure.

The pup even laid by his crate while he was recovering from the anesthesia.

“Raina appeared very concerned about Ruuxa when she saw he was sleeping and she couldn’t wake him,” said Susie Ekard, the park’s animal training manager. “She licked him and nuzzled him, and when he awoke, she lay with him and seemed very content to know her cheetah was OK.”

The dog’s presence made it less stressful for the cheetah, Ekard said.

The two were paired together through the Safari Park’s animal ambassador program. Ruuxa was rejected by his mother – which is often the case when a single cub is born – so Raina steps in to help the cub navigate the outside world.